iMore has learned that Apple is planning to debut the new iPhone at a special event on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, with the release date to follow 9 days later on Friday, September 21. This information comes from sources who have proven accurate in the past.

The iPad mini will be announced at the same September 12 event, as will the new iPod nano. We haven't heard a release date for the iPad mini yet, but it could be the same as the iPhone 5. It seems likely the new iPod touch will make an appearance on September 12 as well, though we haven't heard any specific information about that yet either.

Last year, the iPhone 4S was announced on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, and released 10 days later on October 14. The event included minor updates to the iPod line, notably a white iPod touch 4. This year, the iPad 3 was announced on Wednesday, March 7, 2012, and released 9 days later on March 16. The event included a 1080p Apple TV.

Back in March, we heard Apple was targeting an October release window for the iPhone 5,1, much like last year's iPhone 4,1 (iPhone 4S). Recently, however, several reports have suggested Apple would be ready to go as early as September. Last week, App4Phone.fr, citing Chinese manufacturing sources, reported the September 21 release date.

Unlike last year, when some 16 months separated the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, a September 21 schedule would put the iPhone 5 launch at just over 11 months after the iPhone 4S.

The longer schedule last year allowed Apple to re-position the iPhone as the new, big fall product release. It took the spotlight from the iPod family that previously ruled the holiday quarter, but has waned in recent years. It also padded the time between the Verizon iPhone 4 launch, which only occurred in February of 2011, and gave four extra months for Apple to work on iOS 5, which included major new features like iCloud, Notification Center, iMessage, and Siri.

iOS 6, which was announced during Apple's WWDC 2012 keynote on June 11 and includes a new, Google-free Maps app, and Passbook, should get a final presentation during the September 12 event as well, and if Apple sticks to previous patterns, a release sometime around Wednesday, September 19.

Apple typically shows off extra, hardware-specific iOS features at new iPhone events as well. For the last few years, Apple SVP of Marketing, Phil Schiller, has demonstrated advanced camera and video recording, and Apple SVP of iOS, Scott Forstall, has demonstrated Voice Control, FaceTime, and Siri. For now, we have only educated guesses (see the conclusion) as to what else might be coming to iOS this year.

Is it just me, or does Ritchie need to go back to College and take up English writing? Every now and then, his sentences aren't composed properly. Normally I wouldn't be so critical, but Ritchie is a pure egoist who is also an editor that should know "better".

and apparently you earn a living by trolling people online. why dont you lay off the condescending tone and shut the fuck up? no one cares about you or your opinion. if you don't like the level of English on this blog then don't fucking read it anymore. no one is holding a gun to your head. and the fact that you have not paid a penny for this information means you have no justification for anything you want to say that's bad.
now please go swallow several knifes.

Sorry to say but this comment is not in good taste even if it is a joke.
Please refrain from this kind of comments. looks like personal comment. Usually I am a reader only though I am a member. But today this comment forced me to write.

Before you complain about someone else's writing, clean up your own. The correct sentence should be "a pure egoist who is also and editor, he should know better." The use of the word "that" is incorrect.
Before you go around throwing stones, make sure you don't live in a glass house.
So pretty much yeah....it's just you.

wow the internet makes fools of us all. You are telling someone complaining about english to make sure their english is good but yet - The correct sentence should be "a pure egoist who is also and editor, he should know better.", I'm pretty sure it's is also an editor not and editor. Anyway I've seen mistakes all over the web not only on iMore, read Yahoo much? smartphones, spellcheck and may other things make grammer and spelling less important. I've made spelling mistakes a ton of times, the point is the information being provided is the main thing not the small little spelling mistakes. I just think everyone is entitled to their opinion and Rene is a big boy he can handle a little crit, so no need to tell the person to die LOL.

Hey Spaz, (and you definitely are one), if you're going to criticize others' grammar, you had BETTER be sure yours is spot-on.
Your period goes inside the quotation marks: Not "better". Should be "better."
LOL.

It is clear that you are the biggest douchebag on here. You are so worried about the grammar, when he actually wrote some good use of information. Do you do this for a living? Do you sit down and read articles and pick out the smallest things then complain to them? Like people are going to agree or care. Stick to the article! You should make your own blog and we will gladly...not read it.

Do you know of any contract leniency deals at&t will have for those who got the 4s? Or will I have to wait the full 2 years to get the contract price? Sorry if this I a stupid question but the 4s was the first iPhone for me and now I am bummed that I won't be able to get the 5 for another year. :(

Also, consider Jailbreaking the device if you can. I've seen Jailbroken phones sell for $30-$50 more than a stock iPhone. If you got an AT&T iPhone, consider unlocking it and add another $30-$50 to it.

I have not heard any thing yet. My contract with ATT just ran out, and to upgrade to the 4S i would still have to pay $199. Hoping that its a bit less (by a bit I mean a whole poop-ton less). Its a good time to change providers, though for my uses ATT seems to have more flexible plans.

Looking forward to the whole thing. Still hoping that the mini dock connector is MagSafe-equipped. And still hoping that the new iPhone screen's edges are more rounded. Tired of the plasticky edging around it. (No doubt there to help prevent chipping.)

I doubt that Apple would host such an event while Intel is having its party in the same venue, even if there would be enough space.
So by logic of recent event days and open slots at the Moscone schedule, I would rather guess the Apple event will take place either at Sept. 4th (which might be too early) or Sept. 25th (most likely).

Read it.....Apple only unveils some of their products at the Moscone Center.....others (The iPad, iPad 2, Apple TV, various iPods, Movie downloads on iTunes) have been introduced at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
Also a few have been unveiled at Apple Town Hall..

I actually have both, and much prefer Verizon for customer service and phone service. AT&T has been slightly faster with data, but not much to make a big difference. Verizon has been better for voice for me.

I've been wrestling with this for a while now... I've had great service and customer service with AT&T up until recently. The local tower is just a crapfest suddenly and they seem disinclined to do much about it; that along with the talk of charging for FT over 3G along with past delays in MMS and HotSpot have antagonized me. On the other side is VZW with the slowness and restrictions that come along with CDMA (http://www.imore.com/tipb-answers-verizon-iphone-limitations-cdma) in calling, txting and other arenas... Their LTE looks mighty fine, however :)

What are you talking about. I love Verizon. The customer service is way better then AT&T, and I get amazing data and signal all the time. My coworkers that have AT&T are always lording thier signal and dripping calls. I think you an AT&T employe.

goodness goodness folks. Everyone knows that data and voice varies by location. My office is ATT gold. My home is Verizon and Sprint gold. Get the service that offers you the best data and voice service!

This exact same date was given as the alleged iPhone launch day last year by several blogs. People were up in arms going on about how idiotic it would be to choose the day after the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks. I guess this year nobody is that concerned.

I would understand if it was ON THE DAY, but the day after ?
I dont recall any speculations for september last year. In fact a lot of people were hinting at an October announcement and it was true.
This yeas 9/11 happens to fall on a Tuesday and everyone knows that most movies and videogames are released on a Tuesday and so far I havent seen any companies change their release date due to 11th anniversary for WTC.

Yes! kinda sucks i literally JUST bought a new iPhone 4S for AT&T i dropped my sprint plan (had horrible service) so now i have a brand new iPhone but knowing me, ill still sell this and spend it all on the iPhone 5

This would be amazing if this does end up being accurate. I am due for a phone upgrade I am just waiting on the new iPhone to be released to do the upgrade. I have been waiting so impatiently for this news.

That could likely be the name iPhone 4G since (rumored) design looks a lot like the 4/4S variants. The design or lack of design change doesn't bother me, I put it in a case anyways so not as critical as having LTE and a 4" screen.

Of course if the dates were what Apple was planning, we can expect they will change them they can't have leaked renderings, dates and specs all be true. Unless of course this is the doubling down on secrecy by leaking the details to prevent the purists from storming the castle over a larger 4" display.

Either way I look forward to ordering mine to go along with my iPad 3 LTE.

I checked my At&t account, and the line that i upgraded last year to the 4S say "Great news! You qualify for an early iPhone upgrade with a new 2-year commitment." Seems to me like something will be happening in the next couple of months.

Holy cow, they're making a new model! It's going to be better than the previous model in largely predictable ways! It's so exciting! Who could have possibly imagined that they'd come out with something new? This is so overwhelming!

Event dates known before being officially announced - practically every component of the iPhone 5 leaked already... Am I the only one concerned with the level of leaks out of Apple lately? So much for "doubling down" on secrecy...

"Leaks" are whatever you make of them. Never forget that, even if the rest of the internet-world seems to be unable to grasp the concepts of "facts", "opinions", "rumors", "proof", etc. Last year, around this time, there were not only hundreds of rumors and "leaks", there were also reports of actual "products" - new, radically thinner cases - that were popping up at reputable stores. These were to serve as "proof" that the next iPhone would be a drastic change in physical dimensions from the iPhone 4.

That turned out to be the iPhone 4S. Not so much.

Basically, I'm going to happily wait and see, but if I were a betting man, I'd say that the actual phone will look very little like the current mashup of "leaks".

Why do you guys keep referring to it as the iPhone 5 when Apple will never call their 6th iPhone device the iPhone 5?
1. Original iPhone
2. iPhone 3G
3. iPhone 3GS
4. iPhone 4
5. iPhone 4S
6. the new iPhone

Ya it seems logical that apple would call it "The New iPhone", especially if it IS truly going to be redesigned and loaded with new features. I can def see them calling it The New iPhone, they called the iPad the new one and it is LTE capable compared to older versions, and this next iPhone is supposed to be LTE capable as well so that's one similarity. Either way it's gonna be awesome I'm pretty easy to please I love everything about the 4S as it is, so this next one is gonna be amazing.

iP4 user here who is likely to get the next iPhone. iOS6 looks OK and the leaked images are meh, but I expect what will get me is the whole package, from camera and battery life to great apps and robust functionality. Although I really do think android phones are winning (dominating) the feature wars, I am looking for Apple to put together the best overall device for my interests. It would be nice to see something that puts the wow back in the iPhone, but sadly I don't expect it this September. We'll see. And unless the rumored cohort of Nexus phones hit the streets sooner than later (i.e., something substantive before the end of Sept), I will buy the new iPhone.

Jobs is rolling over in his grave. A new smaller docking connection! Can't wait to see the difference in sales because of that alone. :( Boo on the new leadership at Apple for succumbing to the "buy all new" 'theology' in the tech world. And a little too late to come up with a mini-ipad.

I called AT&T today to cancel a line that I do not use and is no longer in contract. The rep told me that she would recommend that I leave the line open because my two other iPhones do not have insurance and it would be expensive to purchase the phone. She said that the iPhone5 was going to be released on 9/21/12 and recommended that I wait on cancelling the line. Additionally they are crediting me $20.00 per month to keep the line open for three more months. This has to be true!